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First, thanks to BigCalStew and others for showing the newbie how to do this put a question on breaktime thing. Now, the big question….I have a 42′ ranch with a hip roof. Toying with the idea of putting a shed porch on the front. BigCal says to hip that porch to match the house. I’m only guessing, but I think he means to start the new roof at the existing ridge, and follow the hips down? I thought of starting about halfway down, tying into the roof? [Not crazy about those transition valleys, which are notorious leakers]. If I have BigCals idea right, I’m O.K. with it. I’ve seen lots of these porches on gable end roofs and they look great, but can’t recall seeing any on hip roof houses. Is this something that isn’t done, or really should’nt be done, for aesthetic or other reasons? You guys out there who may have done such things, your imput is most welcome.
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Hey man, emails are sorta privat. I'd a responded to you on the board if I wanted it all over.
Alright, to your question. How long a porch, how deep? What's the elevation you've got now and what do you want on that new porch? You really should draw this out. There's some butt ugly porches on some nice houses out there. Make yours not one of em. Better yet, post a pic of you're existing house and you'll get plenty of suggestions on how to proceed. Posting that should keep you busy for awhile. And oh, best of luck on it all.
*You have to have a pretty steep pitch on the main house, or the shed roof will have to be a very low slope. For instance - You can't take a 30' winde house at 6/12 and add an 8' porch at 4/12. The 4/12 roof would shoot over the top of the main roof.
*To Calvin, sorry about the faux pas with the board..., but I said I was a newbie. With a little effort, this could really be confusing. I lied about the front elevation dimension. The house is 58 feet, not 42. How long a porch? Don't know? The whole length would probably look best. How deep? How about 6 feet? I am 6' 8" from bottom of soffit to ground. Present roof has a 5/12 pitch. Post a picture he says! Great idea. But with my computer expertise it would probably be easier to hire an architect. Thans for your imput. Sore Thumb
*Hi Ron, In case you haven't read my reply to Cal, the house is 58', the pitch is 5/12, soffit to ground is 6'8". I was thinking of a 6' deep porch. Is this doable? Sore Thumb
*There are numerous ways to add a nice porch Sore Thumb. You want a 6' extension....how wide though?I could envision an easy 20 gable or hip roof over a 20 wide porch...blue
*Leon - You gave us the width of 58'. But what about the depth ? (Front to back) That's what really affects wether or not you have enough ridge height to build a shed roof back onto the house.
*Leon,Before you get too far along let me suggest that you scrap the entire shed roof idea. Go with a hip or gable roof. If you are doing this yourself, it shouldn't cost you much more to do so and it will look much much better than some skimpy shed roof hanging off the house.Seriously,Pete Draganic
*If you're gonna sit on it, and want to walk by those seated, I'd make it deeper. Seems 7' min to maybe 9' if you want a porch swing and some convenience. The whole length is gonna be one big damn porch. You could almost play shuffleboard. You got some serious planning to do and what better place to start than here. Best of luck.
*Leon:First, above, Ron mentioned 4:12. That number was not arbitrary. 4:12 is the minimum roof pitch to have standard shingles work reasonably well. A lower pitch can work, but then you need to do something other than a regular old shingle job - like weave in builders felt, etc.Second - just say no to shed roofs for front porches. They most always look added on. The first word in the term "shed roof" has a special meaning.Attached is a quick drawing of what a hip roof house might look like with a hip roof porch.
*Here's another quick one...
*Leon: Here's a hip roof with a gable front porch roof. This might be my choice, but that's just my taste. It would be a little easier to build than a hip front porch too. To make it really easy, you could, maybe get a truss company to set you up.
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First, thanks to BigCalStew and others for showing the newbie how to do this put a question on breaktime thing. Now, the big question....I have a 42' ranch with a hip roof. Toying with the idea of putting a shed porch on the front. BigCal says to hip that porch to match the house. I'm only guessing, but I think he means to start the new roof at the existing ridge, and follow the hips down? I thought of starting about halfway down, tying into the roof? [Not crazy about those transition valleys, which are notorious leakers]. If I have BigCals idea right, I'm O.K. with it. I've seen lots of these porches on gable end roofs and they look great, but can't recall seeing any on hip roof houses. Is this something that isn't done, or really should'nt be done, for aesthetic or other reasons? You guys out there who may have done such things, your imput is most welcome.